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An NBC News report claimed it would be ‘potentially opening the door for gay couples’
LGBTQ+ advocates are fiercely criticizing former President Donald Trump’s recent claim that his administration would support “universal access” to in vitro fertilization, calling it a misrepresentation of his record and harmful to LGBTQ+ families.
NBC Newsreported on Thursday that Trump’s campaign claimed it would back universal access to IVF, with the network suggesting this could “potentially open the door for gay couples” to access fertility treatments. But advocates argue that this is false and that Trump’s record, filled with policies that restrict reproductive healthcare and harm LGBTQ+ rights, tells a different story.
Janelle Perez, executive director of LPAC and a lesbian mom who used IVF to start her family, minced no words in her response in a statement to The Advocate. “This is a blatant misrepresentation of Trump’s campaign’s actual position on IVF, and the damage they’ve wrought on LGBTQ+ people trying to start their families,” she said. “Just last week, Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill to enshrine the right to IVF treatments nationwide. Trump’s campaign and the Republican party itself are clear about viewing IVF as a threat.” Perez went on to emphasize that Trump’s policies have consistently hurt LGBTQ+ families.
NBC quoted a senior Trump campaign official who insisted that the former president would expand access to IVF if re-elected. The campaign representative claimed that Trump would ensure “universal access” to IVF, sparking controversy among LGBTQ+ advocates who are wary of his actual record on reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ issues.
“Trump wants us to believe that he cares about women and about the LGBTQ+ community. The truth is, he has only supported and advanced policies that hurt us and undermine our fundamental rights, and we have every reason to believe he will continue this onslaught in a second term,” Perez said.
The Human Rights Campaign quickly responded to the NBC report, labeling Trump’s claim “FALSE” on X (formerly Twitter). The organization pointed to his role in overturning Roe v. Wade and his alliance with his running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance, who opposed efforts to protect IVF access in the Senate. “When someone shows you who they are, BELIEVE THEM,” HRC’s post read, urging voters not to fall for Trump’s rhetoric.
A central concern for LGBTQ+ advocates is Trump’s support for fetal personhood policies, which could effectively outlaw IVF by granting embryos full legal rights from the moment of fertilization. As The 19th reported, the Republican Party’s 2024 platform endorses fetal personhood, a policy that would criminalize the creation of embryos outside the womb—a vital part of the IVF process. The platform claims to support IVF but offers no explanation of how that fits with a legal framework that treats embryos as people, a contradiction advocates warn could devastate access to reproductive technologies for everyone, especially LGBTQ+ families.
“All people deserve the freedom to find, form, and sustain a family, including LGBTQ+ people,” Meg York, director of LGBTQ+ family law and policy and senior policy counsel at Family Equality, told The Advocate in a statement. “For some, this requires access to safe, effective, and common medical practices like in vitro fertilization.”
York added, “The fall of Roe v. Wade jeopardized IVF access for millions of Americans. Unfortunately, while a promise of universal access to IVF can sound like a nice fix, we can’t assume that it will result in helping people build families. A supportive stance from President Trump now on IVF does nothing to fully restore people’s rights to make their most intimate family-building decisions and does nothing to ease the concerns of the LGBTQ+ community.”
Kevin Munoz, spokesperson for the Harris for President campaign, took Trump to task over what is seen as false promises in a statement to The Advocate.
“Donald Trump’s own platform—listed publicly on his website—could effectively ban IVF,” Munoz said. “As President, he appointed an anti-IVF extremist to the federal bench, proposed a rule to allow healthcare workers to deny IVF to LGBTQ couples, and hosted the Alabama judge who banned IVF at the White House. Trump lies as much if not more than he breathes, but voters aren’t stupid.”
Trump’s judicial appointments highlight the concerns about his broader strategy to reshape the judiciary in ways that could severely restrict reproductive rights. One of his more controversial picks, Sarah Pitlyk, who was confirmed as a federal judge despite receiving a “not qualified” rating from the American Bar Association, has long argued that IVF and surrogacy harm both mothers and children, The Washington Post reported in 2019. Pitlyk’s confirmation was part of a concerted effort to install judges, including Supreme Court Justices, hostile to reproductive rights, and advocates worry that such appointments could permanently limit access to IVF for LGBTQ+ families.
Perez, who survived cancer and relied on IVF to start her family, shared her personal experience to stress the harm Trump’s policies could cause. “As a lesbian mom and cancer survivor who needed to use IVF to build my beautiful family, I know firsthand how difficult it can be to access it,” she said. “Trump’s policies have only made it harder for people like me to have children. We need a leader that will champion our rights in healthcare and all parts of society—and that’s Kamala Harris.”
GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, who is raising children with her wife, also slammed Trump’s promises, calling them empty rhetoric designed to mislead voters. “Voters need only to look at a candidate’s record and statements to know whether a campaign promise could ever be enacted,” Ellis said. “Donald Trump nominated Supreme Court justices to overthrow Roe and decades of reproductive freedom over our own bodies. There is no way someone who told the world he has ’a concept of a plan’ for healthcare has any idea what IVF is, costs, or how to deliver it to all couples who want to access it.”
Ellis pointed to Project 2025, a conservative blueprint endorsed by Trump’s allies that lays out a vision where LGBTQ+ rights are systematically rolled back. “Project 2025, which Trump claims to have not read but is clearly his playbook, envisions a world where LGBTQ people are not recognized or treated fairly, yet we are supposed to believe he’s ready to foot the bill for us to expand our families?” she asked.
Senate Republicans’ repeated blocking of pro-IVF legislation has only fueled these concerns. In September 2024, the Senate failed to advance the Right to IVF Act for the second time this year, with nearly every Republican voting against it. Vance opposed the bill in June and was absent during the most recent vote, leaving many questioning the sincerity of Trump’s promise of universal IVF access.
For LGBTQ+ families, many of whom already face legal and financial obstacles to accessing IVF, the stakes in the upcoming election are clear. Data from the Williams Institute shows that 18 percent of LGBTQ+ adults are parents, and many face significant hurdles in building their families through IVF. Advocates are urging voters to pay close attention to Trump’s record, warning that his promises of universal IVF access are unlikely ever to materialize.
“There is only one candidate in this race who will protect Americans’ freedoms to make our own healthcare decisions: Vice President Kamala Harris,” Munoz said.
Ellis added, “Throughout his presidency and campaign, Donald Trump has shown he will do irreparable harm to LGBTQ people, and promises like these, like his fake claims about abortion, are simply never to be believed.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include remarks from Family Equality.
